In the sport of ice fishing, the fisherman cuts a circular hole into the ice down to the water level and drops his line into the water through the hole in order to catch fish. A difficulty which the ice fisherman faces is the fact that the ice tends to re-freeze quickly, thus reducing the diameter of the hole. Some ice fishermen attempt to slow the re-freezing process by pouring antifreeze or cooking oil into the hole. However, these methods pollute the water and are illegal in some states.
Several types of covers to protect the hole from re-freezing are known in the prior art. Most of these devices use solar energy to heat the hole. That method has the limitations that it cannot be used at night and also has reduced effectiveness on the cloudy days which are common in winter in northern states.
The present invention is a hole cover which uses candles as an internal heat source and which has ventilation openings on the lid, front, back, and sides. The primary object of the invention is to keep the hole ice-free while fishing. Additional advantages of the invention are that the candles provide light for fishing after dark, and the fisherman can warm his hands by holding them above the ventilation holes in the lid. Because the hole cover is made of transparent material such as plexiglass, an additional advantage is that the fisherman can observe the fishing hole, to see if a fish has bitten, while sitting in his vehicle or fish house.